I show a lot of new products over on Instagram and Instastories every week, but when I mentioned that IT Cosmetics were coming to Ireland, I received so many excited messages from people who were dying to try the products and loads of messages from those who had already tried some bits and were big fans! The hype was real and in all of my years of blogging, when products are hyped, it makes me be even more harsh on them. I know, I can’t help it!
I’ve been playing with some of their best sellers recently and am ready to give you some feedback to help you decide which products to pick up. IT Cosmetics is exclusive to Arnotts and their stand there is so much bigger than I was expecting. I didn’t know a huge amount about the brand and had no idea that their products went outside the base range. So my advice is go and visit the stand and swatch all the products and have a play. Let’s start with the famous CC Cream (€39). The official name is the Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF50. There’s an illuminating version too but this is the regular one and it’s described as an “all-in-one multitasking beauty miracle.” It’s your makeup, your skincare, your SPF, your colour corrector, it’s a one stop shop.
It’s said to give full coverage but I’ve found that one pump on my giant face gives a really decent medium level of coverage. And it builds beautifully on the bits I need a bit of extra somethin’ somethin’. I’m wearing the shade Light in the photos below, which is the second lightest of the seven shades available. Fair is the lightest shade and I’ll chat about that in a second. I love everything about this base. It has a slight scent to it that I can’t place. I can’t tell if it’s citrus or something botanical, but if you don’t like scented products, I wanted you to know that this has one! It’s got a thick enough consistency but blends easily over my skin. I’ve been using a couple of my favourite foundation brushes to apply it with and it goes on so easily without any streaks or patchiness. As I apply it, I watch my complexion even out, my skin gets a really natural glow and I just look healthier. And as you can see from the photos below, it does a great job of covering redness on my nose. It leaves a beautifully radiance dewiness to the skin which I need to powder down, just on my T-zone, and when I do that, it stays put all day long.
Look at my face. I think oily people like myself will need to powder to get a day out of it, but those with normal to dry skin will love this too.
I wanted to show you the difference between the lightest shade, Fair, and the second lightest shade, Light. There’s a pretty big difference colour wise between the two and they could definitely do with expanding the seven strong shade range, but I think that’s happening. But what I wanted to show you was the difference in texture between the two shades. I was originally sent Fair to play with and couldn’t get it to sit right on my skin. I thought it was my face and thought I was the only person who wasn’t mad on it until they gave me Light to test out and then I fell in love with that. Light is just easier to blend than Fair on me and it sits on my skin better too. Fair seems almost thicker and chalkier which I tried to show in the swatches on the back of my hand. Basically what I want you to do is go into the IT Cosmetics counter in Arnotts and get colour matched and really get to grips with the shades. Light is perfect for me.
Let’s go on to brows and lashes. Brow Power(€25) comes in one universal shade, Universal Taupe and while I don’t know if it’s a good shade match for everyone, I know it’s a good shade match for me.
Look at my poor scaldy brows without any product… But look at them with the Brow Power! It has an oval tip which allows you to create hair like strokes and also fill them in quickly and easily and I’ve found it pretty nifty to use so far. I find the pencil itself is a bit soft compared to the slightly harder pencils I’m used to and I have to use a lighter touch or else I’ll end up with mad looking brows! But the brush on the other end of the pencil helps blend it all out when I go a bit heavy handed. It’s €25 and while it’s nice, it’s not The One for me. I’m a fan of a micro pencil as I have a bit more control but if you’re better at brows than me, which is pretty much everyone, then check it out. One thing to note is that for every Brow Power sold, one is donated to the Look Good Feel Better campaign which is reason enough to pick one up.
Next on to theIT Cosmetics Superhero Mascara (€25). Or should I say the Superhero Elastic Stretch Volumizing Mascara. Fierce long name altogether. You know me and mascaras and I was dying to give this a go with its Elastic Stretch Technology. You’ll see what it does in the before and after photo below and how it gives great length and volume to my lashes with thickness at my lash line and it’s super black. I mean you should see the mess I make when I’m removing it! It stays put all day and I know this to be true because of the amount of pigment that’s on my Cleanse Off Mitt when I’m removing it! What I’ve found with this mascara is that because of the slightly wetter texture than what I’m used to, one coat goes on perfectly with minimal clumping if any. If you want to apply a second coat, the timing is important because if you apply it too soon over the first coat, clumping will happen. So let it almost dry and then go in again. But the before and after photo below shows just the one coat.
For me, I’m fierce picky when it comes to concealers and had heard great things about the Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer (€29). The first time I used it was in one of my Instagram one minute videos and I was concerned about how thick the consistency was and I used way too much. WAY too much! I could’ve done my whole face with the amount I used, so what I’ve learned is to apply a tiny amount on the back of my hand, no bigger than a grain of rice and to use a fluffy blending brush to work it into the skin.
Below shows shade Light and Medium. Light is a good shade for highlighting a la Kim Kardashian, but for a mere mortal like moi, Medium is a better match for me. Look how pigmented they are and how far they go when blending them out! Because the skin under my eyes can tend to look dry and crepy when I use most concealers, I wondered how this would sit on my skin and I can tell you that when buffed into the skin and then gone over with a damp beauty blender, it gives me fantastic coverage without looking cakey. Even though concealers are supposed to hide all your flaws, I’m grand with mine and would rather go a bit light on the product compared to having it really obvious that I’m wearing concealer.
The below photo is with no concealer. I don’t have mad dark circles and just have a scar under my left eye from a cyst removal years ago.
Below shows one light layer of the Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer applied directly under the eyes and brought slightly into the inner corners to add a bit more brightness. Because of my skin type, I have to set concealers under my eyes because no matter how long wearing they are, they generally tend to crease.
Below shows the concealer set with the Bye Bye Pores Poreless Finish Airbrush Powder which is my new best friend. It helps keep the concealer set in place all day and doesn’t dry out my skin at all. So check me out, wearing concealer!
I’ve been playing with two powders, the Bye Bye Pores Pressed Poreless Finish Powderh Powder (€32), the larger of the two, and the Bye Bye Pores Poreless Finish Airbrush Powder (€29), a loose powder. I was given the pressed version first a good few weeks ago and can attest that it definitely helps diminish the appearance of pores and helps set my foundation without looking dry or cakey, and I was stuck into it. Until the loose version came along…
The Poreless Finish Airbrush Powder is a bit messier to use being a loose powder and all, so I’d recommend using the little puff inside, or a smaller powder brush because using a big powder brush will have you flicking it everywhere! But what I love about it so much is that when I use it, I watch my skin transform. It looks airbrushed thanks to the Optical Blurring Technology, it looks poreless and it stays matte all day. I don’t have to top up any oily bits at all. I’m still working on trying not to be messy with it, but it’s worth the effort!
And thus ends this mammoth blog post going through some of the bits I’ve been trying from IT Cosmetics. Have you tried anything yet? What do I need to try next? IT Cosmetics is available exclusively in Arnotts, so happy shopping!
